SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's powerful sister Kim Yo-jong (pic) accused Seoul on Wednesday (Aug 20) of having a "double character", slamming it for holding military drills with the US while attempting diplomatic overtures towards Pyongyang.
Newly elected South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung has vowed to "respect" the North's political system and build "military trust", while pledging to pursue dialogue without preconditions -- a sharp break with the policies of his hawkish predecessor.
Even so, South Korea and the United States began annual joint exercises on Monday aimed at preparing for potential threats from the North.
Lee described the drills as "defensive" and said they were "not intended to heighten tensions".
North Korea -- which attacked its neighbour in 1950, triggering the Korean War -- has long been infuriated by such exercises between the US and the South, decrying them as rehearsals for invasion.
South Korea's "latest joint military exercise, conducted again under the guise of reconciliatory gestures, involves reviewing a new operational plan aimed at the early removal of our nuclear and missile capabilities", Kim Yo-jong said.
The drills also reveal Seoul's intention to expand "attacks into the territory of our republic", she added in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
"This is the part clearly illuminating the double character of the Seoul authorities who are carrying two faces under the hood," she said, referring to Lee and his administration.
Kim Jong-un called earlier this week for the "rapid expansion" of the North's nuclear weapons capability, citing the ongoing US-South Korean military exercises that he claimed could "ignite a war", according to KCNA.
Since Kim's 2019 summit with US President Donald Trump collapsed in Hanoi, North Korea has repeatedly said it will never give up its nuclear weapons and made clear it now regards South Korea, Washington's security ally, as its "principal enemy".
Kim Yo-jong reiterated these claims in the statement Wednesday.
She said Seoul "cannot be a diplomatic partner" of the North, and that Lee "is not the sort of man who will change the course of history".
Lee's office said it was "regrettable" that Kim Yo-jong had "distorted and misrepresented our sincere efforts".
Seoul's "proactive measures for peace" are "not driven by unilateral interests", but "part of a process to ensure stability and prosperity" for both Koreas, it added.
The South's military said in June that both countries had stopped propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarised zone, and later said it had observed the North Koreans taking down loudspeakers after Seoul removed their own.
But Kim Yo-jong has since denied North Korea's removal of the devices. - AFP
